This is a tightly written novel in which every seemingly unimportant thing that happens interlocks to tell the story. For instance, there is a disoriented woman outside the phone booth who later represents the out-of-control feeling that Terri has and also is a basis for questioning thoughts about what kind of person her mother is. The fact that she doggedly tries to get up a hill on her bicycle and finally has to give up is a sign to her later that there are some things she cannot do no matter how she tries.

There is a mouse tale made up by the father that parallels Terri's life with her father. He would tell her parts of the story if she had been good and had performed well in school. It is about Sally, a mouse, who travels in a mousemobile with her father, Mustafa. This...